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The most fundamental power of our party and our country is the power of our moral principles. Triangulation is not a strategy that will move America forward. History celebrates profiles in courage, not profiles in convenience.
— Martin O’Malley (D), taking “a veiled shot” at Hillary Clinton in a speech in South Carolina, “criticizing the politics of triangulation that have historically been associated with the Clintons,” the New York Times reports.
The biggest mistake Hillary Clinton made, and I think this will be an albatross over her neck for the rest of the campaign, I don’t think she’ll be able to overcome this, is that when she was asked to provide security for Benghazi, she didn’t do it.
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), telling Katie Couric that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to blame for the 2012 terror attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi and that her failure to “defend our ambassador,” should “preclude her from even being considered for the higher office.”
$500,000
Amount of a donation from the Algerian government that was “given to assist with earthquake relief in Haiti, the foundation said. At the time, Algeria, which has sought a closer relationship with Washington, was spending heavily to lobby the State Department on human rights issues,” the Washington Post reports. “The Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, including one donation that violated its ethics agreement with the Obama administration, foundation officials disclosed Wednesday.”
An ‘air of inevitability’ should be a good thing, right? It’s in the superhero toolbox, right next to the cloak of invisibility and hammer of invincibility. So why do journalists treat it like kryptonite?
— Ana Marie Cox, writing in the Daily Beast.
As Mrs. Clinton prepares to embark on a race for the presidency, she has a web of connections to big corporations unique in American politics—ties forged both as secretary of state and by her family’s charitable interests. Those relationships are emerging as an issue for Mrs. Clinton’s expected presidential campaign as income disparity and other populist themes gain early attention.
In a general election, nominating Bush would neutralize one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest liabilities (the idea that she, too, is a figure from the past trying to ride her last name to power). Instead of having the clear contrast that would be possible if Republicans were to name a fresh candidate, the 2016 election would devolve into a proxy battle over whether Americans want to restore the Bush or Clinton presidencies. Whether the GOP likes it or not, that isn’t a matchup that favors Republicans.
59%
Percentage of California Democrats who say they will vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should she run for president in 2016, according to the Field Poll [PDF]. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren trailed Clinton with 17 percent. Among Republicans, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led Florida businessman Jeb Bush by 2 percentage points, 18 to 16 percent. The poll also found that 19 percent of California Republicans are undecided.
$2 billion
Amount the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has raised since its creation in 2001 from “a vast global network that includes corporate titans, political donors, foreign governments and other wealthy interests,” according to a Washington Post review of public records and newly released contribution data. First Read: “If this looked like a conflict of interest when she was secretary of state, why doesn’t it look like a conflict of interest as she prepares for another presidential bid?”
I know Elizabeth Warren well, and my strong feeling is she’s not going to run. I think she’s trying to influence the direction of the party, and you have more influence as a potential candidate than you do if you take yourself out. So she’s allowing, she’s sticking to this language of ‘I’m not running for president,’ and titillating people with it, because it gives her more leverage.
— Former Obama adviser David Axelrod, telling Hugh Hewitt that he doesn’t think Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) poses a credible threat to Hillary Clinton’s likely presidential bid in 2016. He added: “Hillary is probably as well-positioned within her own party as any open seat candidate has been in our lifetime.”
$81 million
Amount the charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank, the Guardian reports. “Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with accounts in Geneva.”
